


be here (when I need you the most)

by smoakoverwatch



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: A one shot but most likely turning into multichapter, Because we should talk about everything Felicity went through this year, F/M, Nightmares, Oliver and Felicity are bad at being broken up, Trauma, season 4.5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-21 14:50:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7391599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoakoverwatch/pseuds/smoakoverwatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver crashes at the loft one night, and learns that demons still haunt Felicity more than she leads on. Set shortly after the season 4 finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	be here (when I need you the most)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, idk what this is. I blame my DM with adri/honorthedeadbyfighting and my mind running away from me. I have this set as a one shot but, if I have the time, I'm probably (definitely) expanding on this. I just wanted to make sure I've done the proper research before I commit to moving forward. 
> 
> Title is from the song Don't Let Me Down by the Chainsmokers.
> 
> Also this is... not very well edited so apologies for any mistakes.

 

“Water, Oliver! There’s water everywhere!” Felicity’s standing in the middle of the lair, her arms crossed and a look Oliver really hasn’t seen on her face since she insisted on going to Hub City with him.

That alone tells him this won’t end his way.

“Felicity” he bites out, his patience wearing thin. “It’s just a little leak, I’ve slept with worse.”

She crosses her arms and immediately he knows that’s made it worse. She opens her mouth and closes it again a couple of times, obviously trying to hold something back. Eventually she presses her eyes together and pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Can you  _ at least I  _ get a hotel room or something? Just until I look into having this fixed?

It is not the first time she’s suggested something like that. That’s why his voice is a little colder than he’d like when he replies.

“I already told you I don’t want to have to deal with everyone wondering why the Mayor of Star City is suddenly sleeping at a hotel.”

“Well maybe the Mayor of Star City should grow up and buy a house instead of sleeping in his superhero bunker every night.”

He turns away to roll his eyes, and sigh exasperatedly, because it feels like they’ve been following the same script for the past twenty minutes.

This time, however, Felicity goes off book.

“Fine, then I guess you’re sleeping at the loft tonight.”

It makes him pause.

_ What? _

“What?”

“Well you really leave me no other choice. So come on, get your stuff together so we can go ho—so we can get going. Chop chop, Oliver, I’m really tired.”

She turns away from him, but not before he sees her eyebrows furrow and her eyes press together – the look he knows she always gets when she’s spoken without thinking.

And that’s how he ends up standing at the entryway of the loft, his breath oddly caught in his throat as he watches Felicity arrange his makeshift bed on the couch.

(It was the first thing he insisted on when they got in the car, and, as a testament to how tired she was from their day of cleaning the lair, Felicity didn’t argue)

It’s the first time he’s come back since Darhk attacked, but the first time he’s  _ really  _ been here since the day he and Felicity put all the boxes together – all that feels like a lifetime ago now.

As Oliver looks around, he notices there’s not a single trace of Darhk’s attack. The entire place is spotless. He has no idea how Felicity managed,  considering that it feels as though she’ s been by his side, helping him putting the city back together every hour of the day.

“Okay,” Felicity’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “All set up. If you change your mind the guest room is still ready. You know where everything is. I’m going to sleep. Call out if you need anything.”

Despite her words, she shifts her arms uncomfortably and lingers, as though she wants to say more.

“Felicity,” Good god his throat is dry. He clears it and tries to ignore the warmth in his ears. “I – um, I just wanted to say thanks.”

She gives him a little smile and lifts her shoulders. “Don’t mention it” she says softly before turning and walking up the stairs.

He doesn’t want to start to read into any of that. So instead, he give into the heaviness in his eyelids and shoulders and settles into the couch, sleep overcoming him quickly. 

It doesn’t last long.

He is woken up about an hour later to the sound of yelling.

It takes him about five seconds to register everything ( _ The loft. Yelling upstairs. Felicity upstairs _ ) before he rips his blanket off and jumps up.

When he runs into the bedroom, heart caught in his throat and imagining the worst possibilities, he sees just Felicity on her bed.

And the sight he’s met with breaks his heart.

She’s curled up, her eyes still closed and now she’s just whimpering a bit. As he moves closer he can see in the faint streetlamp light that her hair is damp and sticking to her face, and her cheeks are wet.

“No, no, please,” is what he realizes she’s saying, her breath is quickening up as she starts to thrash a bit. “Please, don’t, don’t.”

When Oliver finds himself right next to her, he’s frozen in place. She’s having a nightmare. It’s not the first time he’s seen it happen, but this is different.

Other times, she’s been able to pull herself out quickly. He thinks back to before, when he’d be sleeping next to her and she would suddenly start thrashing like this. He would only have to consider waking her up before her eyes would fly open and look at him, her breathing slowing down as she’d pull herself closer to him wordlessly. 

This time it’s not like that, he has to wake her up. 

 

Except he doesn’t know how to do this.

If Oliver’s being completely honest, seeing her like this scares the shit out of him.

“Hey,” he says gently. “Felicity, hey, wake up.” Hesitantly, he reaches down to her arm and gently nudges her.

Luckily (at least, he hopes) the effect is immediate. He’s met with her blue eyes flying open and looking up at him in fear as she gasps.

“Hey, calm down, take a breath, it’s just me. It’s just me.”  He moves to crouch down on the floor next to her to meet her at eye level. She nods, slowing her breathing down as she sits up.

“You were having a nightmare.” Later he’ll realize he holds her arm for too long, his thumb rubbing a soothing pattern back and forth.

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine now.” She says, not looking at him. Oliver has to fight the urge to call her out on her lie.  “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He all but whispers. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shakes her head quickly. “No, no. I’m just going to go back to sleep.”

If it wasn’t almost four in the morning, and they hadn’t had the week they just had, Oliver would have pressed a little. But he doesn’t.

“Okay.” He moves his arm off and pushes himself up. “Do you need anything? Are you going to be alright here?”

Felicity nods once. It’s small, and she still won’t look at him so Oliver doesn’t know what to think. He moves towards the door slowly, keeping his eyes trained on her.

When he’s just about reached the first step on the staircase, he hears it.

“Actually, Oliver?” He returns  quickly, and sees her still sitting up on the bed, blankets curled around her and making her look so damn small. “There is something you could do.”

“Yeah, of course, anything.”

“Could you just –“ she pauses and twists the sheets in her hand. “If you don’t mind – you don’t even have to, actually, it’s no big deal. But, if you’re not too tired, do you mind just…. Staying here until I fall asleep?”

Something tugs in his chest.

“I don’t mind at all.” He offers a small smile and it makes the crease in her eyebrows disappear some.

He moves to sit on the floor next to her bed and stretches his legs out. Behind his head, he can hear Felicity shifting about and getting comfortable. Despite how he’s sitting, he can feel his eyes getting heavier.

So soft he almost misses it, Felicity whispers. “Thank you, Oliver.”

He eventually falls asleep fighting the smile tugging at his lips.

* * *

  
  


When morning comes, Oliver wakes up to the sun streaming in through the windows of Felicity’s room, a crick in his neck and no Felicity.

Wait, no Felicity?

He looks around the room twice to see that she’s not there, all that’s left is her perfectly made bed, one that would never hint she was in it last night.

The clock hanging on the wall tells him it’s a quarter to ten, he notices as he makes his way downstairs. The smell of coffee greets him when he gets to the open space and he hears a faint singing.

He finds Felicity in the kitchen, dressed for the day and bouncing around the space with an energy he hasn’t seen in awhile. 

He approaches her carefully. “Felicity?”

She spins, her ponytail flying in the air as she faces him. “Good morning, Oliver,” she smiles, “do you want coffee?”

She doesn’t wait for a response before returning to bustling around the kitchen. Her entire demeanour makes Oliver furrow his eyebrows. 

“Felicity?” he tries again.

“Uh huh,” she responds distractedly, paying more attention to the cabinet she was reaching up for than him.

He knows the next three words he’s going to say irritate her to no end. 

“Are you okay?” 

It makes her pause, the smile disappears on her face altogether as she turns back to face him.

“I’m fine, Oliver. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He pauses.  _ Is she serious?  _ “I, well, with what happened last night I just --”

The words make her flinch, just slightly, he almost misses it. But he doesn’t. “Oliver,” she says, her voice devoid of any trace of warmth it held before, “let’s not do that thing. Let’s not pretend that we,” she gestures to the space between them, “are equipped to deal with  _ all of that _ right now.”

“Felicity--” 

“I’m serious. Yeah, okay, it happened. I’m glad you were there last night, but it’s not something we need to make a big deal out of. I think everything with Laurel and my dad and Havenrock and everyone leaving and Darhk and Cooper and just -- everything,” she has to pause and press her eyes together when her voice starts shaking. “Caught up to me, but it’s fine.”

Oliver is speechless. There’s a hundred things he wants  to say but all he can do is stand there silently as Felicity turns away from him once more, moving around the kitchen with noticeably less  energy  than she had before. 

He waits five minutes before accepting that he won’t get anything more from her and turns to get ready for the day before heading to the office and the lair. 

“Oh, Oliver?” the sound of her voice makes him whip around so fast his neck stings a little.

“Yeah?” He chokes out.

“Just wanted to remind you that you have to call the chief of police back sometime before 2 today, and this morning  I got a hit on that guy who’s been targeting reform school kids in the Glades.” she prattles off without looking up from the dishwasher she’s unloading. 

His shoulders sink. “Right. Thanks.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you in the lair later.” 

“Uh huh.”

  
There’s nothing else Oliver can do but walk away, knowing the conversation has ended, but he’s not about to let this go. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> twitter: @smoakoverwatch  
> tumblr: overwatchandarrow


End file.
